I had just graduated from high school in June and had started my first real job with Westinghouse on July 10. Driving into Newark from Union, I would travel through Hillside and Newark on Elizabeth Avenue until I got to High Street and then take it all the way down to Orange Street where Westinghouse was located.

Not a news radio listener at that time I was unaware of what was starting to happen in Newark that morning. When I got to the traffic light in front of the old Sears building on Elizabeth Ave. I had to stop for the red light. I noticed groups of people running around the street. Stores were being looted. In a small grocery store next to Sears people were scooping food items off the shelves into the shopping carts and running away.

A nearby auto parts store was suffering the same fate. It was almost like watching a movie or a news story. I looked over at the Sears store and it had one window that was broken out. Inside the broken window stood the store guard holding a shotgun. I was really feeling uncomfortable waiting at the traffic light and decided to go.

I don't think I stopped at any other traffic lights that morning. I found an alternate route home that evening. I believe this happened on July 12. I also remember a lot of the black store owners wrote "soul brother" on their windows in an attempt to save their businesses from fire and looting. I don't believe it always worked. It was a very tense summer in Newark.